Cold

2am. Wakened by the dog, I get up to take some more pain killer. When I peek at the thermometer, it registers in my mind that it is 19 degrees outside and a horrible thought dawns on me. “Did we ever turn the heat back on at the old house when we were finished loading the cars?” Quickly I throw on some clothes and we (the dog and I) drive to town. The roads are good and the sky is clear with white stars shining crisply in an ink black sky. I crunch down the sidewalk and up the snow covered front steps. Relief washes over me when I find that the house is still 40 degrees warm. Back home I discover my daughter has locked the door behind me, and I don’t have a key to her house….